About 6,000 miles and nine time zones separate Michael Wallisch from his favorite soccer club back home in Bavaria. He's been a die-hard fan of FC Bayern Munich since he was ten years old, he says, even though he claims he was "too bad" to be much of a player himself.

Wallisch has lived and worked in Portland since 2000, works at biotech startup Aronora and loves his adopted city. But there's no getting Bayern Munich out of his system, which means getting up early on Saturday mornings to stream games from German's top division, the Bundesliga, online. To see his favorite club play in the Champions League – an annual tournament featuring top teams from a number of professional leagues – he finds his way to a British Pub on his lunch break. And during the World Cup this summer, two screens generally shimmered at the research scientist's desk: one for his work, one for the games.

But Wallisch, 43, says he hasn't seen Bayern Munich play live in probably 20 years. That will change Wednesday, when his team plays the MLS All-Stars at Portland's Providence Park.

"I had to wait 24 years to see the Germans again as world champions," he says of this summer's World Cup championship. "And I had to wait almost as long as this to see the FC Bayern Munich live again. Now both happening within just a few weeks. It can't get better than that!"

There's no question who Wallisch will be rooting for tonight at Providence Park. But it may not be true for the rest of his household. His wife, Antonie Jetter, is an engineering professor at Portland State and their 3-year-old son, Nicklas, was born here and pledges his young allegiance to the Portland Timbers.

Wallisch plans to be at the stadium, and Nicklas can watch from home with a babysitter.

"Bayern Munich will win 5-0," Wallisch says with a laugh. "They have to win. Everything else would be a disgrace."

Nicklas is less sure. "I don't know," he answers when put to the question. He's more interested in practicing shots in the yard, anyway. After all, the Portland Timbers might need him someday.

-- Tanja Schuhbauer, Special to The Oregonian

Tanja Schuhbauer, business editor and deputy head of the business section at the newspaper Schwaebische Zeitung in Southwest Germany, is an Arthur F. Burns Fellow for 2014. With her stipend from the fellowship, she is working in Portland and writing stories for both her news organization and The Oregonian this summer.